A Symphony of Tatters
by JimmyDANj2
Summary: Across time and beyond boundaries, they found each other. Their connection revived against all odds. But theirs was not the only synapse deadened by history. The strings of fate are plucked with no small vigor, and their princess and conqueror burn to life once more. Modern Universe, Midna/Link, Zelda/Ganondorf. Sequel to Skirting the Tidewaters.
1. A Symphony of Tatters

**Author's Note:** This is the sequel to Skirting the Tidewaters _,_ a oneshot I wrote years ago. I'm not sure how well this stands on its own, so I guess I recommend reading Tidewaters first, though that's certainly not a requirement.

* * *

"Excuse me," Midna nearly growled. "I seem to have a truck lodged in my ear. Let me dig it out so that I can hear you clearly."

She made an ostentatious show of twisting her pinkie finger in her left ear before withdrawing it with an audible "pop".

"Midna, just hear me out for a second."

"You want us to go and meet your _ex-girlfriend_ at the airport?"

"Really, it's okay. She and I parted on amicable terms _way_ back barely after high school, and we've been friends ever since. I should've phrased it better. She's a best friend more than anything."

Midna rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she sighed. "I am, above all, understanding to a fault. As I'm sure you know but don't appreciate enough."

"You?" he snorted. "Understanding?"

She stole his orange slices in retaliation.

* * *

"Arthur!"

A woman, one hand struggling to heft her suitcase past the curb, the other raised in an excited wave, beamed at the couple.

Midna scowled as she observed the woman's golden locks of hair tumbling down her back, her eyes practically _drenched_ with youth and elegance.

She was beautiful, damn it.

Midna blinked as a petite hand was extended her way.

"You must be Eve. I've heard so much about you," the woman smiled. "My name's Julia, but I'm sure Arthur's already told you that much.

Oh, right. That was her own name, wasn't it? She had almost forgot, so intimately immersed together with Link into their past, into what could have been. The twilight, the chambers of death and skeletons and the fierce, scorching cobalt that spoke volumes when the wolf couldn't, and the imp's laughter that spoke enough when it wouldn't.

Behind them, sure, but just as much a part of them as the steel buildings and soaring contraptions surrounding them now.

Quite suddenly, however, looking Julia up and down, her jealousy and irritation washed away. Midna was taken aback at just how quickly she suddenly _liked_ her. It wasn't only eerie; it just plain didn't make sense. She barely knew the woman. Something about how she carried herself, how friendly she was. The warmth she exuded.

"Um," Midna responded when she realized Julia was still waiting patiently. "Yeah, that's me. It's nice to meet…"

Her eyes, impossibly crimson, widened as they rose to meet the other woman's.

Julia was perplexed for all of two moments before she was also overcome. Her lips parted as she gazed into Midna's depths.

Flashes of imprisonment, serrated glimpses of allegiances that shouldn't have been, the blaring light that said they happened anyway.

The divulging of an entire soul, pouring into another.

Before she even knew it, Midna had grasped Julia's hand, squeezing her fingers desperately.

"God," she spoke, breath shuddering, shoulders barely squared. "Oh, god. You're-"

Julia, similarly overwhelmed, drew a slow, lingering smile across her lips, despite the lone tear tracing its way across her cheek.

She wiped her tear away and broke into a shuddering laugh.

"What are the chances, hm? Midna."

And Midna was already crying into her neck, spluttered gasps of "Zelda" and "What the hell" easily discernible, muffled by fabric though they were.

Zelda wrapped her arms around her and soothingly ran her hand across her back, and noticed Link standing bewildered to their side.

She laughed once more, and motioned for him to join them, accompanied with Midna's strangled demands for him to "get the hell over here, you dumb hero."

* * *

"I'm glad you found each other," Zelda told them. "If anyone deserved happiness, it was you two."

"Still," Link sighed. "All this time I've known you, but it isn't until you meet Midna that you finally remember. We didn't recognize each other even when we were dating!"

Midna stood up with her hands fisted at her hips triumphantly, her tea lying forgotten on the table.

"I guess that means Zel shared a deeper bond with me than she ever did with you, wolf boy."

She snickered.

Zelda rolled her eyes fondly.

"It might have something to do with the fact that I transferred part of myself into you to keep you alive."

"There you go!" Midna gestured matter-of-factly. "Deeper bond."

"It's going to be hard to know what to call you," Zelda said, looking towards Link. "I've known you as Arthur for so long, after all."

"Call me whatever," Link shrugged. "Midna and I prefer this since we never really had a chance before, back in Hyrule. This way, we can sort of redeem what could have been."

Midna glared at him.

"How many times do I gotta tell you I'm sorry, already? Wasn't an easy choice, y'know. I had to make sure there weren't any more Ganondorfs running around."

As Link attempted to assure Midna that wasn't what he was getting at, a thought squirmed its way into Zelda's head.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me," she muttered under her breath.

She swiped her phone and scrolled through her contacts, before making the call.

"Hi," she murmured when it picked up.

A low voice rumbled something in response.

"No, no," Zelda shook her head. "Nothing's wrong."

By now, Link and Midna paused their lighthearted bickering to look over in curiosity.

"Mmhmm. Yes, I'm with Arthur now. Oh, will you stop with that; his girlfriend's with us too, so you don't have to worry. I know, I know. Say…have you ever been stabbed before?"

Link's eyebrows shot up in bewilderment, and, by the sound of the silence from the cell phone, whoever Zelda was calling was similarly baffled.

"Right, of course you haven't," Zelda continued without missing a beat. "But let's say you have, and just don't remember it. Would you like to speak to the one responsible?"

Without waiting for an answer, Zelda tossed Link her phone.

"What…?"

"Just talk to him."

"O…kay…"

Link pressed the phone warily to his ear.

"Hello…?"

" _Who is this_?" A deep voice answered sharply. " _Are you Arthur?_ "

Some chord of familiarity struck at Link, unsettling him. A sense of unease coursed through him.

"Yes, that's me."

" _What's all this nonsense Julia's on about?"_

The chord plucked at his strings, growing louder and louder until-

"Holy crap," he uttered, turning to look at Zelda, who was sporting a sly grin.

" _Excuse me?_ "

"Um, so…you might not know me, but once upon a time, we sort of…fought to the death."

"… _Is this one of Julia's pranks?_ "

"No, well…" Link heaved a sigh. "Bear with me, but I used to go by Link. A long time ago, I…stuck a sword through your stomach. Do you remember?

Silence for several seconds, and then the line went dead.

"He hung up."

The next day, Zelda received news that her fiancé was flying in from New York, prompted by no apparent reason.

* * *

"You're marrying _Ganondorf_?! Didn't he, y'know, _practically kill me_ at one point?"

"Oh, he's really very nice once you get to know him."

"You'll excuse me if I have trouble wrapping my mind around that."

"Trust me, he's a perfect gentleman."

"So was Ganondorf, but that didn't stop him from being an evil tyrant hellbent on destroying everything we knew and loved and stood for. I guess this makes for no end to interesting dinner conversation, though."

"I only realized myself, just now after getting my memory back from meeting you."

"So what's the big oaf's name nowadays?"

"Kevin."

"KEVIN?!"

"Midna, I haven't cleaned the floor yet, you'll get dirty from rolling around in it."

"My sides, oh I can't…s-sorry, Link, but…pfff, really? Behold - your arch-nemesis, conqueror of worlds, slayer of sages, boss of smelly green pigmen – the almighty Kevin!"

"Sometimes I think I need to buy a leash for you."

" _You_ were the wolf, Arty. Not me."

"Anyway, why's he flying over?"

"To meet you both, I expect. It's not every day you recall your former sworn enemies."

"It's not every day you _marry_ your former sworn enemy. Seriously, _what_ are the chances?"

"It isn't something meager that binds us. We're trailed by destiny's footsteps."

"…"

"…"

"He's not coming to murder me, is he?"

"…Why don't I go put on some more tea?"

"Zelda, answer me!"

* * *

The doorbell rang, and the hinges swung aside to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered man. His features were as stone.

Zelda skipped merrily towards him and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello," he inclined his head towards the nervous couple beyond the threshold. "Sorry for turning your friends into souls and usurping the castle and nearly killing you. May I come in?"

Link could only gape.

"He always _did_ have a way with words," Zelda quirked a grin.

Midna stepped forward to let him in, on the condition that he buys her a new helmet.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yeah, it's pretty scattered. Honestly, this is sort of just something random that made its way inexplicably onto the keyboard. It's pretty much a result of the _urge_ and _need_ to post something to do with Link and Midna that's bubbled up slowly over years and threatened to drive me insane if I didn't act on it. So act on it I did. I hope to write for them something a bit more thought out and refined eventually, but for now, I hope this little continuation of Tidewaters will keep everyone entertained.

Let me know what you thought!

…if you're reading this godtierGrammarian, yes, this is _all_ your fault.

EDIT: I can't believe I'm doing this, but chapter 2 is up. Yes, you heard right, I'm continuing the story, and I know I'll kick myself for it later but for now, click onwards and enjoy.


	2. What's in a Name

**Author's Note:** I told myself I wouldn't do this I told myself I wouldn't do this _I told myself I wouldn't do this_. But lo and behold. Another _**not**_ oneshot. I just _had_ to go and continue this. Well, let's go ahead and add this to the growing pile of chaptered stories that will never see daylight…

Just kidding. I hope. Oh god, I hope. _Are you happy_ , godtierGrammarian?! IHOPEYOUARE.

Please enjoy.

* * *

He stirred, and sleep marred his voice with cotton as he turned to her.

"Julia. What's wrong?"

She halted her tossing and turning, her forehead creased and lined with sweat, her fingers clutching at the bedsheets.

And for a wretched moment that stretched tightly over his heart like spider silk, she didn't appear to recognize him – not as himself, anyway. His jaw grew rigid at the fear glazing her eyes.

But it passed, and she forced a smile.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

His lips were thin and his brows knitted together, not only due to his frustration, but because he _knew_ what wrought this and he was so _powerless_ , and helplessness gripped him and seized him and laced his insides with stormy turmoil and coal-black yearnings that could never be allowed in the open-

"It's him, isn't it," he gritted, and he trembled as the phantoms of power sparked in the crevasses between his teeth. "Me, that is."

Her face smoothed itself of expression, and _there_ was the princess – the Queen, rather – that strolled along the dark corridors of his mind, of the history embedded in his bones, her silky wisdoms echoing across his recesses, crooning and beckoning and mocking of a time that preceded him and preceded him and preceded him.

And whether she did it intentionally or not, she was cold to him now. Beautiful, blue – the blue seemed to seep into her very countenance, starting from her eyes, the mirrors to her soul – and frozen.

"I don't know what you're talking about," toneless, a sheet of ice a between them, her heart seemed forever closed off and he yearned and wanted to _reach_.

But she turned her back, coiling the blankets about her, and he had to fist his hand into the mattress to fight that urge to reach for her.

"Get some sleep," she said not unkindly, but the blue traveled from her eyes to her breath and the frost pinned him to the bed. "Link and Midna no doubt have a day's worth of mayhem planned for us, and I for one am loath to be unprepared."

"Of course," he murmured.

He wondered if she was gone from him.

If to her, his name rang true.

* * *

"Hey," Midna glanced at him oddly. "What's eating at _you_? Lost in thought about which kingdom to topple before lunchtime?"

The words struck at him like a viper, and he flinched, though his stance remained firm, his gait powerful. Her barb stuck, however, and the rush of wind through his hair disturbed him, as if jostling his wounds raw, breathing new life into them.

"Um," Midna, for her part, looked reluctantly apologetic, especially when her boyfriend looked sharply towards her in reprimand. "Look, it was just a joke."

"I know."

She fidgeted, before growling and slapping at his shoulder.

"C'mon, you lug! We're here for a _picnic_. You should be too busy relaxing to even think of _brooding_. Ugh,"

She threw up her hands.

"I'm no good at this. Talk to wolf-boy. Who better to understand you than your murderer, right?"

Link glared at her, but approached him regardless.

"Is everything alright? Midna's got a sharp tongue, but she always means well. Mostly."

She stuck her tongue out at Link, and though he tasted bitterness on the roof of his mouth at the display, he managed a smile for them at any rate.

"It's so easy for the two of you," and his tone was a far cry from accusing.

"Huh?" Link frowned.

"Your…banter. The camaraderie has persisted through ages and ages. Nothing between your souls but a desperation to regain lost time."

Link seemed to understand, even if barely.

"And you're saying you don't have that."

He exhaled as his red tresses fell on bronzed shoulders.

"On the contrary. It works the same for me. But what lasts through ages and ages for _me_ , hm?"

He gave them a wry smile.

"Oh, you think we care?" Midna piped up. "That's all behind us, you oaf. It's been _eons_. Those were different _worlds_."

"And who are you to decide what remains and what does not?" he retorted. "You seem perfectly content to share and bask in those memories with the one most important to _you_. Because though you accompanied each other in darkness, your experiences were marked by happiness. Marked by a warmth for each other."

He looked across to the slender form silhouetted against the blazing sun, leaning against a tree.

"Those cannot be behind you," he whispered. "And of course, I don't blame you for treasuring them. But you can't take in all what makes you – all the good – from that time and exclude the bad."

He spread his arms quietly, sleek and brimming with strength, (strength he despised, strength he could not do without because they were what made _him_ ) and gestured to himself.

"And I'd say I was all bad."

Link hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder.

"Ganondorf," but then he wrinkled his nose. "Or Kevin. Or whoever you want to be known as, because frankly to us it doesn't matter. You're right, but that doesn't mean you can discount Midna either. Midna and I…we _do_ have it easy. We want to keep as much as we can and never _ever_ let it trickle from our fingers. But you're our friend. First and foremost. You're just as deeply ingrained in this whole affair, like it or not, and we intend to keep it that way because you _are_ important to us."

He remained solemn, though not before sparing a flash of gratitude.

"I appreciate that. I wish the same could be said for her."

He nodded towards Zelda as she began to walk over to them.

He wore a forlorn smile as he walked away.

"H-Hey," Midna stuttered. "Where are you-"

"Go back to your place without me," he said quietly. "Take her with you for now. I'll be back, I just…need some time."

The slick tang of anguish flared within Link as he watched him go.

Anguish for his friend. Anguish for the annals of legend that prostrate him and the feud and the blood-smirched walls he personified over and over and over again. Forever a king of ruthless abandon. Forever her enemy.

"Where did Kevin go?" Zelda blinked. "He's not staying for lunch?"

And for the first time since he could ever _remember_ , even back to the hallowed twilight and ethereal dungeon and a kingdom steeped in the musk of the conquered and a caged princess who gave her love so freely, who gave herself so wholly to her land-

For the first time, he glared at her.

* * *

"We need to talk," and his voice was stern, leveled.

Zelda looked from him to Midna and back, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

"Okay…sure. Can you tell me where Kevin went first?"

"This is important," he ground out, taking her aback.

"Oh. Um…then, of course."

He had never taken such a tone with her, though of course he was well within his rights to do so, so she shifted her balance to the balls of her feet in apprehension.

"Are you honestly so troubled by his life as Ganondorf?" he inquired bluntly, for the time to mince words was long past. "He's your fiancé."

And she hardened her expression. And there Link recognized his queen, from after Midna had left him, from after Zelda was crowned and tides of war-torn lands shifted beneath her feet. From when she was suffocated by ministers and towers of paper and the iron weight of her duty. From when she could only be Queen to her people and nothing else, locking her boundless love for her denizens away and having to sordidly express it from behind the manacles of the throne.

"I don't believe that's any of your business, what goes on between me and my betrothed."

"I disagree," and again, he was blunt. "I've made it my business because he's my _friend_. And you're hurting him."

She furrowed her brow. He could tell that this was actually news to her.

"What do you mean?"

He took a breath, about to speak, but then Midna – his darling, beautiful, _obtrusive_ Midna – interjected.

"He means, your royal _highness_ , that you've been so busy skirting around Ganny, avoiding him and shrinking from him and giving him the cold shoulder, that you've hardly had time to notice the pain you've caused the big fella. He thinks you're _afraid_ of him. He knows what he was to you in the past and it's tearing the guy apart."

"What?" Zelda's eyes were round as they flickered between the two. "He can't possibly…of course I don't-"

"Then take the stick out of your ass and tell him. You know how badly he wants to talk to you about this? But he's seen fear in you, and _he's_ afraid he's right, and here _you_ are, drawing away from him. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say he was."

"No," Zelda fervently shook her head. " _Never-_ "

"Could've fooled me," Midna huffed. "Hovering on pins n' needles around him _isn't_ helping. I haven't heard you call him Ganondorf once, by the way. Not that there's really anything wrong with it, but it's like you can't bring yourself to match him with the man he was. Tough luck, Zel, but it's part of him just like it's all part of us. If you love him, you'll accept all of him."

"Do not question my love for him!" she almost shrieked.

Midna was surprised, but she stood her ground.

Zelda closed her eyes and folded her arms about herself.

"Not that," she whispered. "Never that. Cast aspersions on anything you want, but never doubt for a second that I love him."

Link stepped forward.

"Then, Zelda, you have to know what he's going through. He's murdered your people and wrenched the crown from your head, and now he's about to marry you. Of course he's going to have reservations if you can't clear them up for him."

She swallowed thickly, before nodding.

"I know. You have to understand, it's not…I'm not…"

She struggled with herself for a moment.

"I've been having nightmares. Not really… _because_ of him or anything, but just the experiences themselves. It leaves a mark when beasts of shadow invade your populace, when there is nothing but darkness for the longest time, when you are _helpless_ as you sit back and watch your country burn. I've been a coward, you're right. I wake up and see his face and I have to reconcile him with the man at the fore of those atrocities, but I can't bring myself to do it because I'm afraid."

At their expressions, she hastily elaborated.

"Not of him. I'm scared that once I've placed him together with his past…with G-Ganondorf, he'll change, or I'll change, or…Goddesses, I don't know. I'm so frightened by the possibility that we won't regard each other the same."

Midna imitated his earlier wry smile.

"Little late for that."

Zelda winced.

"You're…"

She composed herself, however shakily, gulping down her anxiety, feeling the beginnings of tears stained blue.

"You're right, of course. I can't believe…"

Her breath hitched as she blinked back moisture.

"I can't believe I've put him through this. Oh Goddesses, I've been so cruel."

"Wouldn't say _that_ ," Midna picked at her teeth with her pinky, grimacing when she dug out the lettuce. "But you should probably go after him. He hasn't gotten far, I bet, the _wallower_ that he is. He always was a drama queen."

"Now isn't the time, Midna," Link berated in exasperation.

But he, too, nodded towards the sidewalk where her fiancé was last seen lumbering away.

Her heart clenched, but she gathered what steel she had and firmed her resolve.

It would take more than the afterimage of a warlord to take him away from _her_.

* * *

She found him at a bench, an advertisement splashed onto the metallic surface behind him.

His hands were clasped together, his hulking back hunched over to let his elbows dig themselves into bent knees.

In his quietly contemplative state, he seemed to radiate power. His large hands held the world, and many worlds before it, and he was the fury and strength that could grind it to dust.

"Can I…sit by you?"

He looked at her, his visage devoid of emotion, but he nodded.

"Of course. That was never in question."

Her heart thudded as she sat, and she wondered once more how she could have brought about this for him when he had only ever been wonderful to her.

"I assume the dastardly duo put you up to this."

He chuckled without humor.

Something in her gave away, before flaring to life and manifesting in a streak of anger.

"They didn't _put me up_ to anything. I wanted to come after they told me how I've been-"

Her fire abated, and she bit her lip.

He shook his head, attempting to placate her.

"It's alright," he tried to insist. "You've done nothing wrong. Go back to them, and I promise I'll be after you."

"No," she clenched her teeth. "No, I've hurt you. I've hurt you and I didn't even realize."

He placed a hand on her arm, tracing his thumb silently over the smooth pallor of her white – ever so perfect and pale and translucent – skin.

"Julia, you owe me nothing."

"I owe you _everything_ , least of all my life. Not because of any debt, but because you're so important to me it _hurts_."

He glanced at her, and she carefully leaned her head against his broad shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry that I've been this way. I never meant to shut you out. I love you."

"And I you," he smiled.

She took a deep breath, courage flitting to her at his words.

"I'm not afraid of you," she blurted. "I only fear that once we've properly acknowledged all of what's been between us – between Zelda and Ganondorf – we'll be defined by all that they carry with them. That we'll be defined not by ourselves, but by our history. I loved you _before_ I knew of the gods we shoulder."

He considered her, before replying.

"You're right to be concerned. Sometimes I find it ludicrous myself, how we've ended up like this. We have only ever spoken to each other in tongues of blood. I looked upon you only at the end of my sword, you looked upon me from a cage I put you in, or from your full height as I lay twitching at your feet, the hero's metal across my bones."

He gently grabbed slid his hand along her arm to thread their fingers.

"It isn't only the memories of then, either. Every Zelda, every single-minded pursuit of power I've undertaken; they've all come pouring back to me. I've covered your land in the living dead, drowned it in twilight and ocean and fire and a world of darkness. I've encased you in crystal and hung you from strings like a mannequin, burned you away like a fleeting star."

He gazed into her depths, and she saw the despair and the love, churning with each other, unearthing themselves from his confines.

"How can anyone say I'm not meant to bring you to ruin again? You are justified in your misgivings because there has never been anything between us but hatred."

"Until now," she said firmly.

She took note of his posture, slumped in near-defeat, the sorrow tightening his muscle, brimming the air with the tension of their plight.

"Ganondorf," and he was startled, but she never wavered. "The very fact that these things weigh on you is proof of your devotion. Gods of old made homes of our souls, bringing us from beginning to demise yet again and again and again, pitted us against each other at every turn, brought us to every possible brink. We are destined to be enemies, but I don't give a damn."

She leaned her forehead against his.

"This isn't destiny," she told him. "Fate may have brought us together again, but not by machinations of heaven and hell. _We_ found each other. I found you and talked to you and laughed with you and bled with you, and _I'd like to see anyone dare_ to contest any of that with something as stupid and flimsy as destiny."

"But-" he faltered. "But the nightmares. _I'm_ the one who slaughters your soldiers. They're memories of _me_ , not some bygone ancestor."

"They are," she conceded. "You're my conqueror and closest companion rolled into one, and I couldn't deny that if I wanted to. Believe me, I don't. It's high time I accepted all of you. Your ambition and cruelty and lust for power, your kindness and courtesy and devotion. All that comprises you, I love every seething inch of it."

She hesitated.

"But don't go blowing up any civilizations now. I have to draw the line somewhere," she weakly joked.

Ganondorf laughed, full and throaty and impossibly deep.

(And it didn't matter what they called each other, because he knew she knew they _knew_ who they were)

He crushed her to him and she yelped in surprise, before relaxing against his sturdy frame.

"As they say, history repeats itself," he breathed into her ear.

She glanced at him in bewilderment, and he grinned.

"Because I know for a fact that you're going to be the death of me, woman. Just like before. This time, however,"

He drew her so close she couldn't tell where she began and he ended. Her arms twined automatically around his neck.

"This time, I would not have it _any_ other way."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** *Looks up* I _always_ get carried away. Oh my gracious good golly BLEH, what the heck have I done. Things were too happy-go-lucky for me last chapter, apparently, so have some angsty fluff, I guess. If I wanted to keep the integrity of Link and Midna being themselves intact, then of course, I can't just conveniently and entirely be rid of old evil Ganners, now can I? They're all different people from who they were, of course, but they can't be so entrenched in their history and come out all perfect and pretty. Everything in the past has made them who they've become, and naturally, that means I get to open the can o' worms that's Ganondorf.

Oh boy what fun. (no really it was fun even if I sort of slaughtered the delivery please forgive me)

Once again, this came about pretty much all because of one certain godtierGrammarian, whom I also have to thank for some obviously inspired aspects of Zelda within the chapter. Thank you for being so awesome and coercing(!) me to add to the fandom, even though I wanted to do it in another oneshot and not by continuing this but that part's my own fault because the ZelGan urge just throttled me and I kept writing and writing and before I knew it my fingers had betrayed me _what traitorrrrssss_

I'm not certain when I'll update this (ugh, now that I've gone and made this _notaoneshot_ sob sob) but rest assured I'll do my best and hopefully inspiration decides to play along.

*Cough* Well I'm sure everyone's sick of me by now because this author's note is getting stupidly long for no reason, but please, don't hesitate to drop me a few reviews and tell me what you thought! I promise I don't bite.

(GUESS I'LL GO AHEAD AND MARK THIS STORY INCOMPLETE HAHAHA *cries*)


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